Houghton, MI – The first weekend of February brought Central Collegiate teams to Houghton, Michigan in order to find the CCSA distance champions. The hosting university, Michigan Tech, and its grooming crew, prepared outstanding trail conditions. Temperatures stayed around 20 degrees with mostly cloudy skies and small snow showers on both days. Men took on an individual start 10k classic on Saturday and mass start 20k skate Sunday while the distances for women were 5 and 15 kilometers respectively.

Saturday’s racing kicked off with the men’s 10k classic. Northern Michigan swept the podium placing Fredrik Schwencke in first with a time of 28:22.0 a 40 second lead on second place Zak Ketterson and third place Sam Elfstrom. Finishing just outside the podium was Tech’s Tom Bye with Scholastica’s Reitler Hodgert following in fifth, trailing only 1.1 second behind Bye. The top finishers from University of Wisconsin Green Bay and College of St. Olaf were Kyle Marshall (12th) and Mitchell Miller (24th) respectively.

The fastest time for the women’s 5k classic, 17:03.0, was set by Kristen Bourne from NMU, outskiing her teammate Nicole Schneider (2nd) by only 0.5 seconds and Vivian Hett (3rd) by 14.7. “It was great to see Kristen making the jump back to the top of the podium. Kristen came down with mono the very first week of the semester this fall so she had to take many weeks off and then we laid out a plan to come back slowly, this took some discipline and patients on her part and the road back from mono isn’t easy to do but she stuck with our plan and it worked.” Added Sten Fjeldheim. Also to squeeze into top 10 was MTU’s Carolyn Lucca (8th) and Sonja Hedblom (9th) as well as Bree Mucha (10th) skiing for Green Bay. Scholastica’s top woman was Alison Ternes (13th), Maria Hauer from St. Cloud finished 16th and leading woman for St. Olaf was Bri Paulsen placing 19th. “Our women skated well with a couple of top 20 performances from Bri Paulsen and Shelby Arendt. The men continue to improve.” Said St. Olaf’s head coach Kevin Brochman.

Sunday begun with the women’s 15k mass start with Kristen Bourne outsprinting Nicole Schneider in another tight finish with the time of 47:06.2 for first and 47:06.4 for second. Both of Tech’s athletes Carolyn Lucca (8th) and Sonja Hedblom (9th) placed the same as the previous day and Kelsey Dickinson representing CSS rounded off the top ten in 10th place. Sadie Peterson (12th) took the top spot for Green Bay’s women, Bri Paulsen (18th) for St. Olaf and Anna Lindell (27th) for St. Cloud. “Sadie Peterson continues to ski strong and improve week to week during her first year in the CCSA.” Noted Steven Teclaw, coach of UWGB.

Zak Ketterson representing the Wildcats took the first collegiate spot for the men’s 20k skate. Ketterson was closely followed by Tech’s Gaspard Cuenot (2nd) and his own teammate Fredrik Schwencke (3rd). Tom Bye, skiing for the Huskies, was just 4.2 seconds short of the podium finish. Kyle Marshall (6th) from Green Bay recorded another top 10 performance as well as Reitler Hodgert (7th) representing Scholastica. The St. Olaf men were led by Tyler Radtke crossing the finish line in 24th.

“We had a great time racing in Houghton. Trail conditions were outstanding and the race crew is the best. The CSS team had some performances that we are really proud of and we are feeling better each week and looking forward to a new course in Rhinelander next weekend,” said Maria Stuber, head coach of Saint Scholastica.

In the women’s team point standings, Northern Michigan captured 138 points, Michigan Tech 114, Saint Scholastica 97, Green Bay 91, St. Olaf 64 and St. Cloud 54.

On the men’s side, NMU finished with 135 points, MTU scored 119, CSS 100, UWGB 90 and St. Olaf captured 66 points.

Joe Haggenmiller commented on Michigan Tech’s performance: “Tom Bye was pretty strong this weekend. Overall, I thought we competed pretty well. NMU beat us pretty handily, you have to give them credit. We will take another shot at things next weekend.”

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View Race Results »

The weekend of January 28th and 29th brought the teams of the CCSA to Duluth, Minnesota for the Duluth Hilltop Invite hosted by the College of Saint Scholastica. Saturday’s race, 5k and 10k individual freestyle for women and men respectively, went as planned but the Sunday classic distance was changed to freestyle due to an insufficient amount of snow. This change left only the first day as a CCSA/NCAA qualifier point race causing some teams to leave after the first race.

Starting the day off with the women’s 5k, Nicole Schneider from Northern Michigan captured another freestyle victory with a time of 13:19 followed by her teammates Vivian Hett (2nd) and Sophie Schimpl (3rd). “I thought it was a good day of racing for our team. All of our athletes were out there giving it all they had on a fast icy course.” added NMU assistant coach Shane MacDowell.

Michigan Tech women were led by Carolyn Lucca finishing 11th, a few seconds ahead of her teammate Sonja Hedblom (14th). The fastest woman from the College of Saint Scholastica was Kelsey Dickinson (12th) followed by Green Bay’s Bree Mucha (13th) only three seconds behind. The top finisher from St. Olaf College was Bri Olsen (32nd).

Michigan Tech’s Gaspard Cuenot clocked in at 24:24 during the men’s 10k freestyle which secured him a first spot on the podium. His performance, along with his teammates Tom Bye (4th) and Tomi Mikkonen (9th), helped MTU to score the most points among the men’s teams.

Second place went to Reitler Hodgert representing Saint Scholastica and coming in third was Lars Sonsterud from NMU. University of Wisconsin Green Bay was represented by Kyle Marshal coming in 12th and Tyler Radke from St. Olaf finished 38th.

Even with the Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech men’s teams leaving the night before, there was not a lack of competition on Sunday. Kyle Marshall from UWGB placed 2nd with a time of 24:54 in the men’s race, and he was the top CCSA skier that day. Chasing down Marshal were Jack Christianson (4th), Samuel Boardman (10th) and Gerrit Garberich (14th), all skiing for the College of St. Scholastica. Tyler Radke from St. Olaf moved up to 21st from the previous day.

On the women’s side, the fastest CSSA skier was MTU’s Carolyn Lucca who took 3rd place with her time of 28 minutes flat. The closest collegiate skier to Lucca was Sadie Paterson (7th) skiing for UWGB. In the field of St. Scholastica’s women, Nicole Gilman was their top finisher coming in 17th.

Visit itiming.com to see complete results.

The weekend of racing at the Birkie Trailhead near Cable, WI brought yet another challenging competition upon the skiers as well as coaches from CCSA and Midwest high schools.

Day one started with the men’s classic 10k individual start. With temperatures around 36 degrees and raining, the course quickly deteriorated despite the best efforts of the organizers.

Adam Martin, representing Northern Michigan University, dominated the field with a winning time of 30:24.5 and a comfortable margin of 28 seconds on his teammate, Fredrik Schwencke, placing second. Another Wildcat placing within the top five was freshman, Zak Katterson (4th). The Saint Scholastica and Michigan Tech men were led by Ryan St. Clair (9th) and Gaspard Cuenot, rounding out the top ten respectively. “I have to give credit to Gaspard for battling hard after making a poor choice to double pole.” said Michigan Tech’s coach Joe Haggenmiller.

The women’s 5k was taken over by NMU placing eight skiers into the top ten. The fastest collegiate skier was NMU’s Vivian Hett (2nd) with the time 17:58.0 ahead of her teammates Nicole Schneider (3rd) and Sophie Schimpl (4th). The top MTU woman was Sonja Hedblom taking 12th place. With all the NMU women and majority of men placing in the top ten, Sten Fjeldheim said: “I am very happy with the performance of our team. We took our focus away from making the teams for Junior and U23 World Championships which certainly reflected on our results.”

Day two kicked off with the men’s 20k freestyle mass start. MTU’s Gaspard Cuenot topped the field in an exciting final sprint against NMU’s Adam Martin (2nd) and Fredrik Schwencke (3rd). His winning time was 58:39.4. Zak Ketterson (4th) and Leo Hipp (7th) were two other Wildcats finishing in the top along with Kyle Marshall (8th) from University of Wisconsin Green Bay and David Jaszczak (9th) from Michigan Tech.

The Wildcats were led by Nicole Schneider who completed the course in 49:26.1 followed by Sophie Schimpl (3rd) and Caroline Brisbois (4th). Just outside the top ten placed Elizabeth Evans (11th) from Saint Scholastica, Bree Mucha (13th) representing UWGB, and Carolyn Lucca (14th) from Michigan Tech.

“There were some highs and some lows and are hungry for improvement across the board. I was impressed by our teams tenacity in the physical & technical challenges of skiing in warm rainy weather. We are really excited to bring the CCSA to Duluth next weekend!” said Scholastica’s head coach Maria Stuber.

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Men’s 10km Classic Results
Women’s 5km Classic Results

Men’s 20km Freestyle Results
Women’s 15km Freestyle Results

Between January 7 and January 12, universities of the CCSA competed at the 2017 Cross Country Championships in Soldier Hollow, Utah. The same site which hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics will also provide courses for the Junior and U23 World Championships starting by the end of January.

The first day of racing kicked off with the women’s individual 10k freestyle on January 7. Nicole Schneider, NMU’s top finisher, took 34th place overall with a time of 29:27.4, followed by her teammate Sophie Schimpl just 0.5 seconds back and Vivian Hett placing 48th. Kelsey Dickinson from the College of St. Scholastica finished 61st and her teammate Nicole Gilman took the 226th spot. Michigan Tech’s women were led by Sonja Hedblom placing 120th followed by Carolyn Lucca 171st and Lisa Koenig 187th. Women who raced for University of Wisconsin Green Bay were Bree Mucha, Sadie Paterson and Madeline McKeefry finishing 181st, 206th and 236th respectively.

The following race was the men’s individual 15k freestyle. Adam Martin from NMU finished 13th clocking in at 36:02. Martin was the CCSA’s highest placing man that day followed by his teammates Fredrik Schwencke 62nd and Zak Ketterson 72nd. Michigan Tech’s men were led by Gaspard Cuenot placing 29th followed by Tom Bye 73rd and David Jaszczak 144th. St. Scholastica’s Reitler Hodgert, finished 116th.

The next race on the program was the classic sprint on January 8. With the temperature hovering around 36 degrees and constantly changing weather conditions, coaches and wax techs were constantly challenged to pick the best kick wax.

Tomi Mikkonen and Gaspard Cuenot from Michigan Tech both qualified for senior heats in 15th and 16th place respectively, both finishing their race in quarterfinals. NMU’s Frederik Schwencke qualified 28th for senior heats as well, advancing to the final round where he took 6th place. Zak Ketterson and Lars Soensterun from NMU qualified for the junior heats.
Nicole Schneider from Northern Michigan also qualified for the junior heats where she managed to win the final round.

The third day of racing, January 10, brought several classic distance races with mass starts throughout the day. First race was the senior men’s 30k followed by the senior women’s 20k, junior men’s 10k and junior women’s 7.5k.

NMU’s Adam Martin finished the 30k in 11th place and clocked in 1:24:35 securing a spot on U23 Worlds His teammates Fredrik Schwencke and Sam Elfstrom placed 23rd and 62nd respectively. Top MTU’s finishers were Tomi Mikkonen 54th and Daniel Wood 84th. Reitler Hodgert from St. Scholastica took 71st place.

The top CSSA’s finisher in the women’s 20k was Kelsey Dickinson from St. Scholastica in 40th place with time 1:12:46. Vivian Hett from Northern Michigan finished 43rd followed by her teammates Caroline Brisbois 46th and Kristen Bourne 50th. Sonja Hedblom from Michigan Tech placed 54th along with Carolyn Lucca taking 64th and Ruth Opplinger in 74th. Bree Mucha racing for UWGB finished 73rd followed by Madeline McKeefry, also representing University of Wisconsin Green Bay.

In the junior men’s 10k race, Zak Ketterson from NMU finished 34th and his teammate Lars Soensterud placed 121st. David Jaszczak from MTU took 95th spot.

Nicole Schneider from NMU placed 23rd in junior women’s 7,5k and St.Scholastica’s Nicole Gilman finished 101st.

Dartmouth College won the College Cup by earning 615 points scored by top three, male and female skiers from each university in the classic sprint and 10/15k skate race. Northern Michigan University tied with University of Denver for second place with 573 points, Michigan Tech placed 13th with 380 points Saint Scholastica 17th with 178 points and University of Wisconsin Green Bay took 18th place, scoring 89 points.

The final day of racing at the 2016 NCAA Championships started today with the men’s 20k classic mass start. At the start of the race the tracks were icy and fast, but it didn’t last long as the temperature began to rise causing the conditions to soften and deteriorate.

The men’s race was won by the University of Colorado’s Mads Stroem with a time of 49.41.9. The CCSA men had a strong showing today and were led once again by Northern Michigan’s Ian Torchia in fourth place with a time of 50:22. Torchia was followed by teammate Adam Martin in fifth 17 seconds later. The next CCSA skier was Michael Fehrenbach of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 22nd. Reitler Hodgert just missed out on top 30 by 0.3 of a second, finishing 31st. In the same sprint finish was Michigan Tech’s Kyle Hanson in 32nd less than a second behind Hodgert. Northern Michigan placed their third skier in 33rd with the arrival of Jake Brown. Matthew Nichols of UW Green Bay rounded out the CCSA men coming in just behind Brown in 34th place.

In the team scores NMU led the way placing fourth for the men on the day with 60 points which also gave them 150 points over the championship and the title of the number one Men’s College cross country ski team in the country by three points over the University of Denver.

By the time the women’s race started at 11 am the sun had come out in full force, causing the course to soften making skiing very challenging over the three laps of the 5 kilometer course. The women’s race was won in a commanding fashion by Denver Universities Lin Eriksen with a time of 54:37.6. The CCSA women were led by UAF’s Nichole Bathe in seventh place with a time of 55:22, 44 seconds from the lead. Bathe was followed by teammate Anne-Tine Markset in 14th. The two UAF women were backed up by the NMU women Vivian Hett in 15th and Felicia Gesior in 18th. UAF placed their third skier in 23rd with Sarissa Lammers, to give UAF 50 points and fourth on the day. UAF led the CCSA women throughout the entire NCAA Championships besting the women of Northern Michigan by 21 points to finish sixth overall.

NMU’s third skier finished 25th with Sophie Schimpl. The CCSA women were rounded out by the College of Saint Scholastica’s Kelsey Dickinson in 36th and Michigan Tech’s Andrea Lee in 37th.

With the NCAA Championships concluded the CCSA athletes will head home and begin working hard for next year in hopes of returning to the NCAA championships to represent their schools and region.

For a full list of results and results and team scores visit summittiming.com

The first cross country ski races of the 2016 NCAA championships in Steamboat, Colorado kicked off today. The morning was led off with the women’s 5k individual start at 9am and followed by the men’s 10k individual start at 10:30. The weather for the women’s race was hard and fast, with the sun shining and temperatures right around 30 degrees.

Today’s CCSA women were led by UAF’s Anne-Tine Markset who placed 14th, 21 seconds off the pace. Markset led the UAF women to top the CCSA women’s teams today with a sixth place in the team scores. Markset was followed by her teammates Sarissa Lammers 18th and Nichole Bathe 23rd.

The women of NMU trailed by six points behind UAF to place seventh on the day in the team scores. NMU was led by Felicia Gesior in 16th 32.3 seconds off the pace. Gesior was followed by Vivian Hett 21st and Sophie Schimpl 24th.

Kelsey Dickinson of the College of Saint Scholastica placed 33rd today for the CCSA with Michigan Techs Andrea Lee placing 39th.

By the time the men were to start at 10:30, the weather had grown warmer with temperatures reaching into the mid 40’s. This made for some waxing changes for the teams to try and make the most out of the warming snow conditions.

The men of NMU not only led the CCSA field today but led the entire men’s field by taking the team lead with 90 points, 19 points over the next challenger, the University of Denver with 71 points. The Wildcats were led by Ian Torchia in second place, ten seconds from the win. Torchia was followed closely by his teammate Adam Martin 18 seconds later in fourth. Jake Brown placed ninth overall today solidifying NMU’s lead and giving each of the Wildcat racers All-American honors.

Michigan Tech was CCSA’s second team at the Championships in ninth overall. MTU was led by Gaspard Cuenot in 12th place. Cuenot was followed by Kyle Hanson who finished 31st after suffering a crash during his race costing him precious seconds in the overall. Didrik Elset placed third for MTU in 40th.

There were three CCSA men representing their schools with solo efforts today. Reitler Hodger of the College of Saint Scholastica finished 25th, Matthew Nichols of the University of Green Bay took 35th and Michael Fehrenbach of the University of Alaska Fairbanks finished in 37th.

The NCAA Nordic races continue Saturday with 15 and 20 kilometer classic mass starts. For full results and team scores please visit www.summittiming.com

Day two of the CCSA/NCAA Regionals was host to another day of hard fast racing. After the warm temperatures of Saturday, the weather took a turn and produced colder temperatures overnight. This caused the courses to freeze solid, making it difficult to set a solid track around the 5k course at Al Quaal Recreation Park in Ishpeming, MI. The grooming crew did a great job with what they were given and the races went off without a hitch.

The men and women of the University of Alaska Fairbanks were out to make a statement today, and did just that by winning the team events for the day. The men led it off with the 20k classic mass start. University of Alaska Fairbanks Michael Fehrenbach took the win after just over an hour of racing, by out sprinting Northern Michigan’s Jake Brown.

“It was great for Michael Fehrenbach grab his first win of the year in the last CCSA race” said UAF coach Nick Crawford. “We knew he could do it all year and I’m glad it finally came together today.”

Today’s racing was extremely close with the top six being separated by only 26 seconds. Michigan Tech’s Gaspard Cuenot crossed the finish line in third, less than four seconds behind Brown. From there, UAF and Northern Michigan traded blows as UAF took fourth with Jan Cech, Northern countered in fifth with Samuel Elfstrom. Reitler Hodgert snuck in to sixth, for Saint Scholastica’s solo men’s top ten. Applying the finishing blow to Northern Michigan’s run for today’s win was UAF’s Max Donaldson in seventh, beating out Northern’s Fredrik Schwenke by four seconds to register their third scorer and take the team win for the day with 63 points to Northerns 60. Michigan Tech’s Kyle Hanson and Didrik Elset finished ninth and tenth to give their team 53 points and third in the team scores.

On the women’s side, Northern Michigan and UAF continued to trade haymakers for the top spot in the days team scores. The day was ruled by Michigan Techs Andrea Lee as she attacked on the last lap of the three lap 15k race to win by over 15 seconds. Once Lee was across the line the battle ensued with UAF’s Nichole Bathe and Anne-Tine Markset delivering a one two punch, finishing second and third.

Northern Michigan responded with three big shots and put their three top girls in fourth, fifth and sixth with Caroline Brisbois, Sophie Schimpl and Lea Buenter. The assault of UAF proved to be too much today as their third scorer, Sarissa Lammers crossed in seventh, giving her team 63 points and the win over Northern by 3.

“Our women had an outstanding day with four in the top 10 and two on the podium!” said coach Crawford. “It was really fun for Nichole and Anne-Tine to go 2-3 today and we’re excited to see how they do at NCAA’s.”

Kelsey Dickinson of the College of Saint Scholastica led her team in eighth place. She was followed by another UAF skier, Ann-Cathrin Uhl in ninth and teammate Elizabeth Evans in tenth.

In the overall team scores the men of Northern Michigan were able to weather the storm today and kept their lead from day one to take the overall Regional Championship with a total of 122 points. University of Alaska Fairbanks was second with 112 points, just narrowly beating out Michigan Tech with 111 points.

Northern Michigan’s women were able to hang on after the onslaught from the women of UAF to finish first for the weekend and taking the Regional Championship with 122 points. UAF followed closely with 120 points. Michigan Tech took third with 100 points, just beating out Saint Scholastica for the last podium spot by one point.

With both men and women’s teams taking Regional Titles, Northern Michigan University was awarded the combined Regional Championship.

“I’m really proud of our team today” said Northern Michigan coach Sten Fjeldheim, “we saw some great racing out there this weekend and everyone dug really deep to get this win. We had some awesome results from some of our athletes like Sam Elfstrom who had two of the best results of his career this weekend, and our two freshman Lea Buenter and Sophie McDonald who also posted season best results.”

As these races mark the end of the CCSA regular season, some athletes will be looking to the NCAA Championships in Steamboat springs that start March 9th.

For a full list of results and team scores please visit Superiortiming.com.

The CCSA/NCAA regional championships kicked off today at Al Quaal recreation park in Ishpeming, MI. The 5 and 10 kilometer individual start skate races saw abnormally warm temperatures, causing the snow to soften and deteriorate as the day went on.

The day began at 10am with the women’s 5k skate race. As temperatures held steady well above freezing, Northern Michigan’s Sophie Schimpl stormed her way to first place and her first Regional title with a time of 13:50.7. Ten seconds back from Schimpl, was Saint Scholastica’s Kelsey Dickinson in second place. Dickinson’s second place finish is also the best placing by a Saints women at a Regional championship according to Saints coach Chad Salmela.

“This is the most memorable ski race I’ve ever had,” said Dickinson of her performance. “Including biathlon.” Dickinson raced two seasons internationally as a member of the junior and senior US Biathlon Teams before returning to St. Scholastica this year.

Coming in a strong third place, another ten seconds down to Dickinson was Michigans Tech’s Andrea Lee. Right behind Lee by less than a second was Northern Michigan freshman Sophie McDonald in fourth.

The women of the University of Alaska Fairbanks were operating like a well-oiled machine today placing fifth, sixth and seventh with Nichole Bathe, Anne-Tine Markset and Sarissa Lammers all coming in with less than five seconds separating all three racers. This performance was good enough to place UAF in second on the day with 57 points behind Northern Michigan University’s 62 points.

Northern Michigan’s third scorer, Caroline Brisbois, wasn’t far off the women of UAF in eighth. Saint Scholastica’s Elizabeth Evans followed in ninth and Northern Michigan’s Vera Gruber rounded out the top ten.

The team podium is still up for grabs as all of the team scores are very close heading into tomorrow’s 15k classic mass start. Northern Michigan leads with 62 points, they are followed by UAF, 57 points and Saint Scholastica in third with 52 points and they are followed very closely by the women of Michigan Tech with 51 points.

On the men’s side of things, the temperatures remained well above freezing causing the conditions to soften as more and more racers lapped the course for the 2 lap, 10k race.

Northern Michigan’s Jake Brown stomped his authority all over the men’s race to take his first ever regional title finishing with a time of 24:36.6, a full minute and four seconds ahead of Michigan Techs Kyle Hanson who took second on the day.

“I’m super happy for both Jake and Sophie today” said Northern Michigan Coach Sten Fjeldheim. “For both of them to take not only the individual regional title, but have it be their first time doing it is just amazing!”

The men of Northern Michigan followed in the footsteps of their women’s team by placing in the same exact places with fourth, Sam Elfstrom, and eighth, Krystof Kopal, to give them the team lead with 62 points after day one.

Michigan Tech solidified their second place team score of 58 points with strong performance behind Hanson with Gaspard Cuenot in sixth and Didrik Fjeld Elset in ninth.

The fight for third, fourth and fifth in the team scores is a close one at the moment with the University of Alaska Fairbanks leading the charge with 49 points by taking fifth, Max Donaldson, tenth, Alexander Eckert, and eleventh, Michael Fehrenbach. As we look to fourth and fifth we have a tie after day one between Saint Scholastica and the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. The Saints were led by Reitler Hodgert in third, missing out on second overall by 0.2 of a second, while Matt Nichols led Green Bay in seventh.

Each team will be looking for crucial points tomorrow as they try to better their position in the team scores with 15 and 20k mass start classic races.

For a full list of results and team scores please visit superiortiming.com.